IB parents face difficult choice

By: | Statesville Record & Landmark
Published: May 09, 2010

The tricky thing about sending your child to a "school of choice" is that it's just that -- a choice.
It's a choice that can bring great advantages -- specialized curriculum, smaller class size, an edge on college applications. But it also can require greater sacrifices in terms of more challenging schoolwork, increased demands for parental involvement or a longer drive to school.
It is up to each parent to weigh what is in the best interest of their child, and make a choice based on that.
The Iredell-Statesville Schools District also has a choice. They can decide whether it is in the best interest of the district and its students to offer schools of choice, and they have to weigh the needs of those students against the others attending in traditional programs.
That's why locating the International Baccalaureate diploma program at South High School makes the most sense.
South has 775 open seats, as opposed to Lake Norman High School. It is located roughly in the middle for students coming from Northview and Mt. Mourne. And it will cost significantly less than other options on the table.
It is difficult to imagine why parents would prefer cramming their children into LNHS, possibly in mobile units, over sending them a few more miles down the road to a facility that can accommodate them. (It couldn't have anything to do with Lake Norman's sports program, could it?)
By most accounts, the IB program is an excellent opportunity for some of the district's most promising students. It is up to those students' parents to decide if a slightly longer commute to school is a fair price to pay in exchange.
Should they decide it is not, there are surely other students who would be willing to take their place.

IB parents face difficult choice

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